Madrid

It is impossible to think about the Spanish Civil War without thinking of Madrid. It is equally impossible—for those with a sense of history—to think of Madrid without thinking of the war. Not only was the Spanish capital the focus of the military conflict for the long months between November of 1936 and March of 1937, it was also the crucible in which much of the international meaning of the war was forged. Each of the slogans that echoed through the industrialized nations was either first spoken there or inseparably connected with the struggle for the city. It was in the attack on the capital that German and Italian aid to Franco first became internationally visible, and it was the attack on Madrid that led people to see the war as the stage on which the international struggle between democracy and fascism was being waged. “Madrid shall be the tomb of fascism” was, for the first phase of the war, one of the rallying cries that galvanized world opinion. Similarly, when people worldwide called out “No Pasorani”—They Shall Not Pass!—it was at Madrid that people understood the line against fascism was being drawn.